On the second night of our trek, we stayed with a local family. Although it wasn't the most peaceful sleep with the rain coming in through the night and the pigs squealing next door, it was really interesting seeing how the family lived. They made us an excellent dinner over an open fire and shared their homemade rice wine.

While we stopped to admire the view, we noticed a very young little boy down in a valley, he was crying. We shared our snacks and water with him as he was so hungry and thirsty. Young children are often wandering, collecting berries or firewood for the family - and this little guy was separated from his siblings. Thankfully after 20 mins or so, his sister came and found him to take him home.

‎We saw many families planting rice seedlings, so we stopped to offer a hand. We took off our shoes and got into the deep mud and started planting away. The trick was to push the seedling deep enough into the mud so that it wouldn't float to the top. It was also important to properly space the seedlings for the best crop possible.

Guiding us through our trek and the many villages was Ban, our guide from the H'mong tribe. Although Ban didn't go to school, or have the opportunity to learn to read or write, her English was very strong - all self-taught! We greatly enjoyed learning about the tribe culture and hearing about Ban's family and community.

‎Over the past couple of days, we trekked about 25kms through some of the most beautiful scenery in Vietnam. We visited several interesting ethnic villages, including Cat Cat, Lao Chai, Ta Van and Giang Ta Chai, which are home to the H'mong and Dzay tribes.

‎Originally built by the Chinese, these rice terraces are hundreds of years old. The terraces are kept within families for generations, being passed on to the sons in the family. At this time of year (May), families are watering their terrace to prepare for planting or have just started planting. The rice will be harvested in about 6 months.

We arrived this morning to the remote and mountainous town of Sapa, located in Northern Vietnam, near the border of China. The Sapa region is home to many hill tribes as well as rice terraces, lush vegetation, and incredible mountain scenery.

While walking down a small street in Hanoi, we suddenly smelt a heavenly aroma - so we followed our noses and came across a tiny bakery that had buns hot out of the oven. Inside these warm buns was a delicious coffee-like syrup, which tasted like nectar from the gods. Incredible! We quickly went back for more!!

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About Michael and Tenille

Michael and Tenille decided to take a career break in 2014 to follow their dream of traveling the world (or as much of the world as possible on their budget!). Both have an adventurous spirit - always willing to try new things and different foods.
When not traveling, you can often find Tenille in the kitchen, trying new recipes or working with ingredients picked up from the local farmers' market. Michael is often found enjoying Tenille's cooking. :) Michael is an avid photographer and often can be found learning about the latest technology.